Amazing Island

"Not as amazing as I had hoped."

Let me state a few things before I start reviewing. First off, Amazing Island is a game for children; if you go to rent or buy this game without a six-year-old next to you, chances are people are going to stare or laugh at you. I am not underage, nor is this a joke review. I actually like this game, and I‘m glad I tried it despite taking the risk of having some people laugh and stare my friend and I in the store.

Amazing Island is very reminiscent of franchises like Pokemon, Digimon, Monster Rancher, etc… You play as a young child who must save a mystical island from a force called the “Black Evil.” How do you save a fictional world from imminent destruction by an unoriginally named evil force? By playing a bunch of unconnected mini-games with monsters you create.

No, I'm not making this up. Apparently the way to defeat the bad guys is to go through a bunch of obstacle courses. When you choose to try an obstacle course, you'll use a monster you control to get through various obstacles, ranging from skipping on water to chiseling a statue. At the end of a course, you'll fight a boss stage, which is essentially a volleyball-like game where you throw a fireball back and forth and try to hit your opponent. At the end, you'll get a… stone or something that unlocks a new course on which to continue. I don't know; I never really got that part.

Okay, so what about these monsters I've been talking about? Well, you can create creatures to help you in your… quest by using a thing called a water mirror that's located in the island hub. You can either answer questions to determine a form for your monster, or (and this is infinitely more fun) you can choose a pre-made frame and draw the various limbs for it, making your own creation (the game never explains why a group of people who built something as complex as a monster-making mirror can't use their own invention, but need to summon a young child from far away who can use it with no problems.) After making the body, you can color your creation and add accessories (everything from hats to horns,) as well as choosing its voice. You can make as many monsters as you want, and you can save ones on your memory card if you find them especially inventive.

Why would you want to make a ton of monsters? For starters, the game actually reads what your monster is like when deciding how well it will do at mini-games. If your creation has short legs, he won't run very fast, and if he has one tiny foot and one large one, he'll run awkwardly. There's no reason not to experiment though: every time you make a monster, even if you delete him right away, you'll get an extra continue to use if you fail a mini-game and want to try again without redoing the whole course. This thoroughly justifies making any weird, bizarre creature you'll ever think of, and since getting high scores on mini-games unlocks new accessories, you can make even weirder creatures after you make successful ones.

Unfortunately, these monsters you make will look blocky no matter how well you designed them. Actually, the whole game is like that. The graphics are just one-step higher then the Nintendo 64 standard, and it actually does detract from the experience. Unlike most games on the Gamecube, you wont see anything responding to wind (which is a somewhat trivial thing, but one that has become standard,) nor will people give you the pleasure of seeing their mouths move any way but up and down. These seem like such minor things, but these days almost every game shows off whether effects, and for a game that bases itself on a new, magical world, it doesn't do much to immerse you.

Something that causes the lack of graphical detail to be even more appalling is how short the game is. After only seven obstacle courses, you'll find yourself fighting the final boss. Beating all of these courses only took me about five days, and almost half that time was spent fiddling around and making monsters. It's a very fun experience, but it leaves you wanting more. And the option of going for high scores on mini-games doesn't satisfy this lust.

Another big problem in this game was the music. While the sounds all fit the atmosphere very well (I was glad that they at least got crashing waves and footsteps right after the whole wind thing,) the music suffers from a huge problem: I can barely remember it. None of the music stays with you, and while a few of the songs are catchy and fit the atmosphere of the mini-games well, most of them don't really have anything to do with the mini-game in question, nor do they have much presence. The songs sometimes seem like they're just there to distract you from the mini-game you're playing, and most of the tunes are used way too often.

Despite all of the downfalls, I must again state that I enjoyed this game. It may seem a bit like Pokemon or Magic Pengel, but the flow of this game works so well that you have fun the whole time. This game could have been much greater, but as it is the variety and sheer charm of the game make it work. I don't recommend buying this, but rent it occasionally and you'll be sure to have some fun, as well as maybe convince a friend to join you in making crazy monsters. This game may not be great, but personally I can settle with Pretty Good Island. If you can too, try this out.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/05, Updated 07/19/05